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Using Media Resources

Information is available to us in many different formats - published books, articles,
and newspapers, web pages, videos, photographs, and more. In order to effectively locate,
evaluate, and incorporate a wide variety of information into our knowledge base
we must understand what media literacy is and why it is such a critical twenty-first century
skill.

What is media literacy?

Media literacy is a learning approach which helps students access, analyze, evaluate, and create
messages using media in various forms.

Media literacy empowers people to be both critical thinkers and creative producers of an
increasingly wide range of messages using image, language, and sound. It is the skillful
application of literacy skills to media and technology messages.

Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education. It provides a framework to access,
analyze, evaluate and create messages in a variety of forms - from print to video to the Internet.
Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills
of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy.

Media literacy is based on the premise that the medium through which a message is conveyed
shapes the message itself. As the information landscape continues to expand beyond traditional
text-based resources to encompass a plethora of formats including digital, video, and social media,
it is important to be able to evaluate and interpret the messages received, and to understand how
different formats influence these messages.

Find video sources

Follow the links and tips on the
Finding Video Clips page to locate videos covering various topics and in various formats.

Search the digital media collection

In Fall 2007 the Undergraduate Library subscribed to a collection of digital films from Films
Media Group.
The UGL Digital Media Collection page provides information about these films and a link to search them.

Evaluate your sources

As we become saturated with media in its varying formats it becomes easier to be complacent in
accepting media on its face value. Being a savvy consumer of media is crucial to understanding its
content. You should apply evaluative criteria to all the sources you use in your research. A
common set of questions should be asked, but specific questions for the various forms of media are
helpful.

Questions to ask when evaluating media sources

Who is sending this message and why?

What techniques are used to attract and hold attention?

What points of view are represented?

How might the message be interpreted in different ways?

What is omitted from the message?

The following pages can also provide assistance in evaluating different types of sources: